Canton heroin dealer gets 10 years

A Canton man was sentenced to a decade in prison May 24 for distributing a large amount of heroin around the Brockton area a couple years ago.

Obinna Obiora, 38, was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge William G. Young to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release on a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin.

A jury found Obiora guilty of conspiring to distribute one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of heroin in the greater Brockton area. The trial, which lasted six days, was complete on Jan. 17.

During a three-week period from September to October 2015, Obiora and his brother, Chukwuma Obiora, supplied heroin to Marvin Antoine in amounts ranging from 300 to 400 grams, the Department of Justice said in a written statement. The last time they are accused of supplying heroin to Antoine, he stole the drugs and refused to pay, federal prosecutors said. A federally authorized wiretap caught calls between Obinna Obiora and Antoine, in which he tried to collect his debt, they said.

Chukwuma Obiora pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in January and was sentenced in March to four years in prison, along with three years of supervised release. Antoine pleaded not guilty and his federal trial is set for Sept. 18.

Obinna Obiora, who is a native of Nigeria, will be subject to deportation following his sentence, the Department of Justice said.

The Brockton Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and the Barnstable Police Department assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Rosen and Leah Foley of Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.